Tales of NKWAYA

Once upon time, in Gasabo was a hunter called NKWAYA. He could not be seen without his bow and shield. He had been catching hyenas and forest rabbits for years, nothing to be proud of. He would always come back at home to find his lovely wife waiting outside, worried.

He would give her what he had, her look would ask for more. He would collapse in bed, too exhausted to do his home work. His wife would pray he runs into a lion one day and freak out so badly to despise the forest.

She wanted him so badly, she wished he could at least get injured and stay at home for a while. In his dreams, he would be shouting to his dogs to catch the prey. In her dreams, she would be shouting to her gigalo to get it right.

For the past couple of years, she had started to feel lonely and yet she was young and beautiful. Her husband was poor and mad over hyenas, so candidates were streaming in. The poor man knew but never complained. He wanted to make things good for once and for all.

Turned out there was a strange tiger-monster that threatened the villagers and the King had set a round of cows as a price for someone who would kill it. As much poor as Nkwaya was, a round of cows meant the world for him. He never told anyone about his dream, everyone knew him as a low-life. He liked it that way.

One night, he couldn’t find sleep. He woke up and headed to the forest. On his way, he met an old man whose face was camouflaged. Both were headed to the forest, so they started to chat. The poor hunter broke and gave in all his secrets and sorrows to the old man. He told him about his dream of killing the notorious monster-tiger, about his cheating wife…. The old man just listened, without a word. Nkwaya kept talking and talking… When they reached the forest, the old man finally spoke.

Old man: You know son, I’ve never had something I felt I could die for.

Old man: Its not a joke, get your bow right. I have to do this for you.

The old man started to roar slowly, his legs started to change in shape and grow hairs. Nkwaya freaked out and fell. The half-man&half-tiger thingy picked him up.

Monster: Come on, lets do this. Pick your bow and shoot me.

Nkwaya: Please don’t hurt me.

Monster: Why would I hurt you idiot, for the first time I find something worth dying for. Come one, lets do this.

The half-man&half-tiger thingy finally shaped up into a huge tiger with dark-red eyes. It roared as hard as it gets, Nkwaya tried to run in vain. The monster caught him.

The monster: You are as bad as they say, where are you going?

The monster snatched the bow out of Nkwaya' hands and held it as if talking a selfie. It shot itself in the chest twice, in the forehead once. It kept shooting itself until it fell down. The hunter came back running to see what just happened and at that very moment early-bird girls who were going to fetch water, showed up and they started to scream, calling out the whole village to come and see.

The King himself came and found the hunter standing by the monster, he offered him a round of cows. The hunter became the village’ savior and hero. And that day, he went back home and did his homework properly. As a bonus, the King executed all the gigalos who had been sneaking around Nkwaya' wife.